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On February 17, the NA Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs organized parliamentary hearings to debate the issue on the package of the RA draft law “On the NGOs” and the Enclosed Legislative Amendments submitted by the RA Government. The deputies, the members of the RA Government and the representatives of the NGOs took part in the parliamentary hearings.

Highlighting the debate of the legislative package, the Committee Chair Elinar Vardanyan has noted that the existing law “On the NGOs” defines the legal status of the NGO, regulates the legal relations arising during its creation, management, activities, transformation and its dissolution; however, there are certain problems which have to be solved. Elinar Vardanyan has underlined that the draft law under debate essentially differs from the existing law. According to the new draft law, a complicated process of the NGO registration and the provision on the members’ number will be amended.

The RA Minister of Justice Arpine Hovhannisyan expressed his view on the package of the draft law and the enclosed legislative amendments.

The key speaker, the RA Deputy Minister of Justice Arsen Mkrtchyan has informed that the role of the NGOs in the state and public life of the country is specified by the package.

The Deputy Minister also added that the amendments being proposed by the package make the activities of the NGOs more transparent. He touched upon the financial stability, the organizational-legal and administration mechanisms, the activities of the funds by the inviolable capital, the compulsory audit for the NGOs and the volunteers’ exemplary work.

The Legal Adviser of the Transparency International Anti-Corruption Centre Heriknaz Tigranyan in her report referred to the financial stability of the NGOs, their obligations and the Volunteer Institute.

The attendees addressed questions to the speakers, which mainly related to the control functions of the authorized body to be created, the financing of the NGOs, the use of the state symbols by the NGOs, the volunteers and the beneficiaries.

Summing up the work of the parliamentary hearings, Elinar Vardanyan thanked the participants for the debate of the package of concern.